SKY – 06

SKY – Chapter 6

The mastig force slowly became visible from the southwest. This time it was larger than any sighted near West-Hail before and could truly be considered a fleet. There were two full sized mastig battleships along with an assortment of smaller ships adorned with pointed spikes and crude cannons.

Based on the initial estimates, the fleet had to number greater than thirty thousand. West-Hail’s entire defense force plus militia volunteers numbered less than five thousand.

Cruntiq replied, “Like we’ve done
in the past, if we can maintain the barrier systems, we can turn this into a
battle of infantry units rather than a game of bombardments. If we can do that,
then our victory is dependent on how soon we can kill this fleet’s Alpha. At
that time, I’ll be taking to the front lines myself. Mastig alphas lead from
the frontline, if I can kill him early we can take advantage of the chaos and either
capture or take down one of their ships.”

“So the best case scenario is kill the alpha, secure one of their battleships. And the worst case is you die and the town gets destroyed.” Traer said.

“I won’t die.” Cruntiq replied with confidence. “The plan is if we can minimize casualties, we can outlast them. They have no ground to set up a base or recharge their ships. They’ll have to retreat before their ships fall out of the sky, which gives us the window to evacuate the town or call for reinforcements depending on how much damage we’ve sustained by that point.”

Veindelio, on the opposite end of the observation tower jumped in with, “So then for today are we just trying to make it to nighttime? You know they don’t tend to land units on unexplored ground when visibility is low.”

“Right. Although they may look like
monstrous brutes, they are not a stupid or reckless enemy, at least
strategically. Today, for both sides, will be to gauge the other groups
strength and plan for the bulk of the fighting in the next coming days.”

***

The mastigs surrounded the town
from all angles, above and below. Hleis and friends watch as the skies darkened
with the shadows of their enemies.

“So, I’m guessing West-Hail has the
standard barrier used throughout the kingdom? Spherical and covers all angles?
Blocks all massive items and ones travelling above a certain velocity, you
know, to block projectile bombardment and all that stuff?” Sota asked the
others.

“You bet. Only way for them to
attack us is to enter inside the barrier and fight us head on with infantry.
Great tech, we’d have been wiped out ages ago if it didn’t exist,” Vayling
replied.

“But that’s also why it’s crucial
to defend the generator units. Without this, their battleships come into play
and we’re all done for,” Maltii pointed out.

“Hmm I’m thinking concussion mages should
be able to project our attacks outside of the barrier. I think I can hit them
before they get to town,” Sota said.

“Have you not fought with barriers
before?” Hleis asked.

“No, this is my first defensive
battle of this kind. I’m the youngest member of the unit, and haven’t had any
battles like this yet,” Sota replied.

“Well this should be exciting then,
but I wouldn’t attack them from outside the barrier. We are right near a
generator unit and wouldn’t want to attract unneeded attention,” Hleis pointed
out.

“Got it, okay good point,” Sota
said in response to Hleis. “Well I’m just brain storming some ideas. Its probably
best not to carelessly use stamina on experimental spells. Do any of you know
any magic?”

Maltii said, “There are a couple
people within our town who can use magic for utility purposes, but they’re all
stationed elsewhere and aren’t used to using it to fight mastigs.”

Seeing the mastig ships stop moving,
Hleis quickly interrupted the conversation to give out his final instructions. “They’re
going to be coming soon. Sota, we’ll take standard formations. That means I’ll
take the front position and will meet them as they arrive. Maltii will remain
near the support turrets where she can assign shields as needed. Vayling will
be mobile along the wall to snipe and support nearby units. Sota, let’s stay
together, I’ll get their attention while you focus on taking them down. We may
have to go down there and stop them if they try and break through the wall with
any explosives or siege weapons.”

“Alright, I’ll follow your lead!”
Sota replied.

The doors of the mastig ships opened.
Countless mastigs dropped down through the barriers onto West-Hail. The ones
that dropped right above or near the town were met by a flurry of bolts fired
by the fortifications hidden throughout the town, tearing the attackers apart.
Viscera rained from the skies.

Only the weakened or lucky ones
made it to the ground. They were quickly met and disposed by the soldiers waiting
for them. The soldiers were ready for this. Cruntiq taught them the procedure,
taught them how to deal with this situation.

To Sota’s surprise, the soldiers on
the outside walls paid no attention to what was happening behind them. Their eyes
were solely focused on the mastigs landing before them.

Vayling and the other marksmen had
already drawn their weapons. Bolts and arrows flew upwards, taking out the mastigs
that were dropping from directly above. Maltii and the other shield operators
moved their generator disks blocking any falling weapons, projectiles and mastig
corpses.

All of this was to her was
fascinating to see. Interesting. With
limited resources, this is how these people have survived so long all the way
out here.

Hleis had his eyes focused on the mastigs
approaching from the front. It wasn’t before long that the aerial drops stopped
as the mastigs realized this wasn’t going to work and that they were just
throwing away lives.

The first wave to land outside of
West-Hail were not heavily armored and only carried on themselves utility tools
and weapons, usually a one-handed melee weapon or a mid range projectile
launcher with bayonet.

Not all mastigs wore armor to
battle, but the people of CloudStock knew from centuries of war, that the ones
that did were the exceptional ones to look out for. They were the individuals
strong enough to not have to worry about giving up mobility for protection.
These ones were often referred to as Mastig Elites. Several were scattered
throughout the first wave.

Each mastig male stood a good half-meter
taller than the average man and by muscle distribution resembled more a beast
than a human.

Their white fur was thick and
obscured the tough hide underneath. These creatures, in nearly every way, were
physically superior to humans. They were bigger, stronger, faster and more
durable, but the nature of their wars was always as the attackers and thus always
fought against the home field advantage held by humans.

Vayling shifted his attention
towards the mastigs that were approaching from the front. He started picking
them off from a distance. Soon the other marksmen began to do the same.
Following suite, Sota also began to fire a couple concussive explosions sending
large groups of mastigs backwards from the impact.

“Whoa, so that’s magic huh?”
Vayling exclaimed.

“If I was stronger I could kill
them in larger numbers from here like the older mages, but the best I can do is
soften them up before they reach us,” Sota replied.

“It’s good enough, can you kill
them when they’re closer?” Hleis asked.

“Stay focused Vay…” Maltii mumbled.
Her focus was on the approaching forces.

Despite Sota’s nonlethal attacks, the
utility of a mage was evident to Hleis.

The area affects along with the instantaneous
nature of the spells were hard to avoid. The attackers had no response.

He noticed how individual mastigs could
adapt by slowing down; shielding themselves behind rocks and trees, keeping low
to the ground, but their approach options became limited. A great number had
taken damage from Sota’s spells and were much less vigorous by the time they
reached him.

Hleis had no problem dispatching
the mastigs that made it to him.

The walls weren’t tall, but were virtually
stone and wood prairies once on top. It didn’t take much effort for mastigs to
climb, but it was a surprising distance to cross it once there.

Hleis’ sword cut into the injured mastigs
before they could react. No blocks or counters. He would maneuver along his
area, between the enemies with precision and quickness, fine control that he
learned from experience fighting in the skies.

By this point though, unscathed mastigs
were making it to the wall due to their sheer numbers advantage.

Vayling began moving, positioning
himself in better spots where he could snipe critical targets.

Maltii from the back began to
really focus on shielding those that needed it.

Blood dripped from his blade and
slickened the handle, but the magnets kept the grip tight. He had slain all the
weakened opponents and focused his attention on intercepting the largest and
strongest looking mastigs to deter them from attacking Maltii or Vayling.

Sota resummoned her sword; her body
glowed with a faint white outline as she took a position near Hleis parrying
and exchanging blows with mastigs.

Sota noticed Hleis’ fighting skills.
She thought to herself, Huh, they weren’t
kidding. He’s fast and strong enough that the size of sword doesn’t hinder him
at all in combat…Hmm. He may not be aware of it, but those aren’t natural
abilities.

Spotting an armored foe, Hleis
quickly finished the opponents nearby and began to charge towards the elite. Shield
disks protected him from the bolts fired his way, while the assailants were
sniped from a distance.

Soon it was just Hleis and the
elite. His long sword clashed with the large blade wielded by the monster. He was
strong and could keep up with Hleis’ speed. Hleis’ arms shook from the impact
of each parry.

Things were at a standstill. He had
to end it soon before he used any more stamina and before more enemy
reinforcements could arrive.

The occasional shield disk would
fly by, deflecting a projectile aimed at him, but when it would cross between
the elite and himself, it would obscure vision for Hleis while it deflected a
blow from the elite.

I
can only kill it if I get in a blow while he’s not looking…Hleis thought. All my normal swings are read and reacted to…this’ll
be risky…

As the shield disk blocked a swing from the
elite, he positioned himself directly behind the disk and pierced through it, enveloping
it in sparks.

He couldn’t see his enemy, but he
could tell he pierced it and did so deeply. Knowing he had very little time,
Hleis ripped to the side while still lodged in the chest of his enemy,
delivering a killing blow before he promptly retreated back to the
fortifications.

Sorry
Maltii, but I owe you one. If I can’t see him, he can’t see me.

Another mastig elite had made it’s
way to the town wall. The neighboring unit was engaged with it. The main melee
fighter of that unit had already received a blow to the chest by the armored
mastig and was out of commission, grasping at his wounds. Fortunately for them,
another mage, one clearly very experienced, had positioned himself in the
elite’s blind spot and unleashed a fiery blast from point blank, leaving a searing
hole through the creature’s chest.

“Damn, I see where they get their
reputation from,” Vayling said to Hleis as he returned to the fortifications.
All the while, continuing to shoot at nearby enemies.

Hleis responded as he once again took
up his position, “Yeah, they certainly make good allies and provide a lot of
offensive power.”

The day was drawing to a close,
daylight was beginning to recede and the mastigs were starting to retreat back
to their ships to regroup and strategize for the coming days.

Sota moved back to her group and
asked, “Where did you learn to fight like that Hleis? Those aren’t normal
movements you do. Humans can’t move like that naturally you know.”

“He’s just fast. Also, Hleis you
owe me a new disk. That was clever, but those things aren’t cheap to make nor
are they disposable,” Maltii interrupted.

“Sorry about that, but I had to in
order to take out an elite on the first day,” Hleis said. “It’s good though, we
were able to take out two elites over here with only a couple casualties.”

“Well whatever, as long as we
survive that’s all that matters right now,” Maltii says with a sigh of relief.

“Yeah, lets go into town once the
nightshift shows up,” Vayling said. “Those guys were waiting mostly in town
right? They only saw a little action at the start so they should be fresh and
ready to take over.”

“Sota, want to join us?” Hleis
asked her. “You were awesome today with those spells. We want to know more
about your magic and discuss strategy together for tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I also want to talk to you about
how you fight,” she replied as the next shift appeared to relieve them of their
duties for the night.

***

“We lost twenty-six today. I can’t
be happy that they died, but since they were the only casualties, the first
encounter overall went well for us,” Traer said to Maltii. He was giving a
logistics debrief to her and Vayling who were seated at the center of town
resting and recovering from the days fighting. “Where’s Hleis?”

“Oh he’s with Sota, the mage that
joined our group. He went with her to get tonight’s rations for us,” Vayling replied.

“Ah, you guys had a mage with you?
How was that? From what I’ve heard they’re all really strong no?”

“She’s around our age and is pretty
good. Magic users are really something, those spells of hers were really
useful,” Maltii responded.

Traer, Maltii and Vayling were all
discussing, not noticing Sota and Hleis, off in the distance, returning to
their group with supplies in hand.

Sota asked Hleis, “Since when did
you discover you could move the way you do and swing a massive sword like the
one you used today?”

“I don’t know how many years ago. Maybe
when I was sixteen or so, not sure, but it was during the first mastig attack
that I participated in. I wasn’t actually a soldier at that time, but had to
fight off a stray mastig with my dad’s large butchering blade. I was able to
use with no real problems so that’s what I’ve been using since.”

“Were you exceptionally strong as
child growing up?”

“No. Not really. I was training to
be a ship mechanic until that incident.”

“Huh, interesting…”

“Is it? I mean, there are plenty of
others who use weapons this size,” Hleis said motioning to the blade sheathed
and hanging from his back.

“Yeah, but those people are both
larger than you, but swing the sword slower than you. I think you’re unintentionally
using magic to enhance your abilities,” Sota said.

“What? I can’t use magic. I’ve
never learned and don’t have any talent in it.”

“You probably can and do, and have
been using it this entire time, you’re just not aware of it. It’s not that
uncommon of an occurrence, plenty of people in the kingdom don’t discover their
magical abilities until they’re really forced to.”

“Why are you so sure I can use
magic?”

“What you do is unnatural. I’m just
guessing for now, but there are magical aptitude tests that we can give to you
back in the capital.”

“Well, if we make it out of this we
can find out. But I doubt it, if I was using magic I think I would’ve figured
it out by now.”

“Again, I think up till now, you’ve
just been passively bolstering your physical abilities, a strong and valuable
ability, but not one that’s too visible and obvious. If there’s ever a slow
moment during this siege, I’ll show you some tricks to use it better and to confirm
if you’ve actually got it.”

“Hmm, well sure, but let’s focus on
tomorrow for now. Oh! I see them, and it looks like Traer is with them as well.
Here, I can introduce you,” Hleis said to Sota. The two of them approached
Traer, Maltii and Vayling. “Hey Traer, this is Sota, the mage that joined our group
today and helped us fend off the attack.”

“Hi, great to meet you. I’ve heard
about you from Vayling and Maltii. I’m Traer, a member of the strategic team,”
Traer said in the friendliest tone of voice he could make. “I was just telling
these two about the plans for tomorrow.”

Other mages were intermingling with
the denizens of West-Hail; several were interacting and socializing with their
squad mates and their families. The people of the town were beginning to build trust
and camaraderie with these once mysterious mages.

“The main plan for tomorrow, and
the day after, is to hold your position and thin their numbers. The main
priority is to draw out the alpha so that the two captains can take him out.
From there on out, the mastigs will either continue the fight with no leader or
retreat to regroup. Either way, we’d have a much easier time surviving and
better odds of victory.”

“Is that the only way to win?”
Hleis asked.

“We can’t exactly leave the barrier
to try and kill the head mastig. We have to draw him in to us. The good thing
about the barrier is that, although it’s keeping us in here, it’s also limiting
the number of mastigs that can attack us at a given time, as long as we play
things smartly we can gain incremental advantages.”

“And the idea is that the mastig
alpha will see this and take command from the front lines themselves?” Sota asked.

Traer confirms, “Yup. They tend to
do that anyways since the strength of an alpha is usually enough to overwhelm
one hundred men. But we have Cruntiq, who has slain an alpha before, and your
captain who I’m assuming is very strong considering what you and the other
mages have shown.”

They chatted a bit more that night,
met members of their families and checked out to get a nights rest before
taking up their positions to spend the entire day tomorrow fighting mastigs.